


Your heart's desire

by Akasanata



Category: X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dark Charles, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-04
Updated: 2018-03-04
Packaged: 2019-03-26 23:18:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13868091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akasanata/pseuds/Akasanata
Summary: What could possibly Apocalypse offer in order to convince Charles to join him?Set during the mental fight between Charles and Apocalypse.





	Your heart's desire

**Author's Note:**

  * For [still_lycoris](https://archiveofourown.org/users/still_lycoris/gifts).
  * In response to a prompt by [still_lycoris](https://archiveofourown.org/users/still_lycoris/pseuds/still_lycoris) in the [xmenrarepairs18](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/xmenrarepairs18) collection. 



> **Prompt:**
> 
> The pleasure of sharing power. Feel free to go very dark with this one!

This was his home. A place that had brought him as many sorrows as happiness, but more importantly, a place where many others had found their sense of belonging, where they could just be themselves. There was no way Charles would lose here. No matter how big or frightening Apocalypse seemed, Charles still had the upper hand.

He heard a low chuckle, the kind that you would only expect to hear in a horror movie. When he looked up to Apocalypse, he realized he was no longer in front of him.

“You are so proud of your little school,” Charles shivered when he felt soft exhalations in his ear, even though there was no one behind him, “but, you know it no longer stands. You don’t even know if your students are alive. All you’ve created is ephemeral and will never bring the change you so desperately search for.”

“And so, the alternative is destroying everything? You’re ridiculous!” Charles didn’t understand what Apocalypse was playing at. As if Charles could be convinced to commit mass murder. Clearly he didn’t know much about Charles.

“Oh, no, what I’m offering you is exactly what you want. Happiness and safety for everyone. A better world, where no child has to suffer ever again, where tolerance and love thrive.”

Charles finally could see Apocalypse again. He was close, way too close, almost pressed against his front, and his hand was reaching slowly for Charles’ face. Without thinking twice, Charles punched Apocalypse with all the mental force he could muster, except, instead of having an effect on Apocalypse, it was Charles himself who was sent flying in the opposite direction, as if he had tried to push a larger object in space.

“I see you’re interested in my proposal” said Apocalypse with a smirk.

Charles was starting to lose patience. “Enough! Get out of _my_ mind.”

He launched himself once more against Apocalypse, but again, the self-professed god had disappeared.

Charles was beginning to feel the strain in his mind. His breath was labored and the floor beneath him was less tangible. When he got up, dark spots danced on the corner of his eyes. They had barely exchanged a couple of fists, why was he feeling so drained? Something wasn’t right.

“You have tried and tried, but somehow, you are always alone against an insurmountable mountain. That is because you’ve been fighting as a human, when you should be commanding as a _god_ , and deep down, you know I’m right, don’t you? Don’t be afraid to let go”

This time, when Apocalypse embraced him, Charles didn’t fight. His own body weighting him down that it simply took too much effort to move. “We aren’t gods. We are as human as them, only that by chance we were born different.” He muttered without much energy. Apocalypse was warm, and the hands caressing him left him drowsy and content. It had been too long since he felt like this.

“All the people who have wronged you, they can’t understand the immense favor you've given them by simply letting them go. But by my side, Charles, you are never going to be left alone again.” Apocalypse whispered in his ear. “We will rule together as equals,” a kiss to his forehead, “as partners,” a kiss to his cheek, “as lovers.” A kiss to the corner of his mouth. Charles could feel it perfectly, all the love and admiration Apocalypse had for him. He could read a determination to make Charles happy, to make Charles’ dreams come true, to never leave him alone.

Charles let a ragged breath out and slowly, so slowly, turned his head towards Apocalypse. A second or an hour could have passed before he connected his lips to Apocalypse's. It was brief, but tasted like the warm breeze heralding spring, like an unbreakable promise to come.

But before he could fall into a second kiss, Erik’s grin came unprompted to his mind, and he jerked away panting. What was he doing, what was happening to him? Had he lost his mind? For the first time since all this madness began, Charles was really scared, and what he was scared the most was of himself. He needed to find a way to defeat Apocalypse and he needed it now, before he descended again into Apocalypse's poisonous spell. He needed to _think_ , but the air, thick as molasses was invading all his senses, suffocating him. He wasn’t going to make it, he wasn’t strong enough, he realized with a cold clarity as he lied on the floor, unable to get up. He had failed as always, but that didn’t matter. What was important wasn’t winning, it was not losing. He began to reach towards Jean, who he knew was just beside him, when a warm hand on his shoulder distracted him.

“Tell me Charles, if you could go back in time, would you save his parents. Would you save him from the monster’s clutches?”

There was no need in specifying who _he_ was. He tried to speak but no words came forward, so he pitifully accepted the truth and nodded.

“And how about all the other children? Would you leave them to suffer and die? Would you let all the men behind the genocide to continue killing freely? No, you would have looked for a way to the war to end earlier, wouldn’t you? And yet, how many children are you letting suffer right now, when you have the power to ensure their happiness? How many innocents are you allowing to die daily, when you could spare them with a single thought? Your greatest strength is how much you are willing to give of yourself to make others happy, but your greatest weakness is how scared you are to actually intervene. Do not let the fear control you anymore. Come with me and let’s build together a world where no child will be hated by their mother. And a world where you will always be loved.”

Apocalypse extended his hand, and Charles, devoid of any thought just took it. Getting up was simple, the air was no longer thick, and his mind, his mind was soaring, free of any constraints for the first time. Now he understood, he was awakening at last. All these years before, they were only a prelude, his actual life was beginning today.

He smiled to the man with whom he would spend eternity with and as he embraced him, all the burdens in his heart disintegrated. The solution had always been in front of him, but now that he wasn’t alone it was time to act.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not very sure about this, but I hope you like it nevertheless!


End file.
